The level of carbon dioxide in the air is 50% higher than it was before the industrial era

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a level of 50% higher in May than in the pre-industrial era. — The level of carbon dioxide in the air is 50% higher than it was before the industrial age. Photo: Agence France-Presse

The CO2 concentration (Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere In May it reached a level 50% higher than in the pre-industrial erawhich we have not seen in Earth About 4 million years ago, a US agency warned Friday.

The Global Warming Caused by humans. notably by producing electricity using fossil energies, transportation, cement production or deforestation; Is responsible for this phenomenon, the most prominent office US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

May is generally the month in which rates are recorded Carbon Dioxide higher every year.

In May 2022, The threshold of 420 parts per million (ppm), the unit of measurement used to quantify air pollution, has been exceeded. In May 2021 this rate was 419 ppm and 417 ppm in 2020.

These measurements are generated by an observatory Mauna Loa in Hawaiiideally located at the height of a volcano, allowing it not to be affected by local pollution.

Before the industrial revolution, the level of Carbon Dioxide It hovered steadily around 280 parts per million, during the nearly 6,000 years of human civilization that preceded it, according to NOAA.

Carbon dioxide is responsible for global warming

The level reached today is ‘similar’ to what it was in the past.Between 4.1 and 4.5 million years agowhen the levels Carbon Dioxide “It was close to or (was) in excess of 400 parts per million,” the agency said in a statement.

Then the sea level rose by 5 to 25 meters, which is enough Many of the current large cities will be under water. And occupied vast forests Arctic regions, according to studies.

The Carbon Dioxide it’s a greenhouse gases that traps heat, gradually causing Global Warming. It persists in the atmosphere and oceans for thousands of years.

He noted that this warming is already having serious consequences NOAAincluding multiply Heat waves, droughts, fires and floods.

“The Carbon Dioxide (Carbon Dioxide) at levels our species didn’t know about in the past, which is nothing new,” Peter Tans, a scientist at NOAA. “We have known this for half a century and have failed to do anything meaningful (about it). What does it take for us to wake up?